Button-setting machine



(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 1.

J. H. VINTON.

BUTTON SETTING MACHINE.

N0. 394,231. Pgajimgjjmxwll, 1888.

w j i 20216095566. Merv/07".

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

J. H. VINTON.

BUTTON SETTING MACHINE.

No. 394,231. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

(No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet 3.

J. H. VINTON.

BUTTON SETTING MACHINE. No. 394,231. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. VINTON, OF HOSON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PENIN- SULAR NOVELTY COMPANY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

BUTTON-SETTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,231, dated December 11, 1888.

Application filed April 24, 1888. Serial No. 271,683. (No model.)

cally threaded into the eyes of buttons and g be then driven into the material and have I their prongs clinched on an anvil.

In the machine herein to be described staples placed in a hopper are delivered therefrom upon a raceway, where they meet the eyes of the buttons placed in another hopper and delivered therefrom into a chute, the staples being acted upon one by one by a driver and threaded into the eyes of the but tons, each staple so inserted into the eye of a button being driven by a driver along the raceway, into which the staple is placed when being threaded through the eye of the button, the staple carrying with it to the boot or shoe the bllilIOll.

The buttons, as herein shown, are delivered froni the button-chute into a pocket wheel or carrier, which is rotated intermittingly, and each button is removed from a pocket of the carrier by a transferrer into position to leave the eyes of the buttons open in the driver-passage, so that as the driver descends a leg of the staple will be threaded into the eye of the button.

The trai'isferrer herein shown is a horizontally-reciprocating bar. The driver is of peculiar construction-that is, one side is longer than the other, to thus enable the button-eye to turn a quarter-turn as or just after the staple-leg enters it, for then that part of the button-eye outside the staple has to swing upwardly in the arc of a circle to the central part of the crown, so that the widest part of the button shank or eye may travel in a vertical slot as the staple having the button on it is driven into the material.

My invention in button-settin g machines consists in a block having a driver-passage and a staple raceway or bar in communication therewith, combined with a staple-detainin g finger located opposite or at the end of the said raceway or bar to support a single staple, and with a driver, substantially as will be described; also, in a staple raceway or bar, a block having a driver-passage slotted atone side, a staple-detaining finger located at one end of the said raceway or bar, and a button chute or raceway, combined with a transferrer to transfer the buttons singly into the said slot under the driver to drive a staple into the end of a button-shank, as will be described; also, in a driver-passage slotted at one side for the entrance into it of a shank of a button with its eye uppermost for the reception of one leg of a staple, combined with a foreshortened driver to permit the button-shank to turn a quarter round, substantially as will be described.

Other features of my invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification."

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying my invention, the staple-receiving hopper being partially broken out. Figs. 1 and 1 are enlarged details of the driver for threading the staple into the eye of the button and the raceway, the parts being shown in different positions, Fig. 1 representing the shank of the button when first entered by the leg of the staple, the position Fig. 1" representing the shank of the button when the staple has been fully threaded thereon. Fig. 2 is a vertical. section to the left of the line a, Fig. 1; Fig. 2, a sectional detail in the line it to show the cam and devices for moving the driver a. Fig. 3 is a seetional detail in the line a to show the lever and cam for moving the driver-carrier. Fig. a is a partial section in the line to show the staple raceway or bar and the guide or raceway section which receives the staple with button attached and from which the staple is driven. Fig. 5 is a detail in front elevation of the button carrier and transferrer. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail at the left of the line at, Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a detail of the carrier-wheel and its ratchet. Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail of the front of the guideway in which the shank of the but-ton is placed by the transferrer, the finger 43 being omitted to better show part of the driver, it being elevated just above the end of the staple race way or bar. Fig. 9 is a section of Fig. 8 below the dotted line Fig. 10 is a detail en larged, showing the finger 4:2 and the spring for holdingv it against the raceway-bar A. Fig. 11 shows the driver a separately. Fig. 12 is a section on line at, Fig. 4. Fig. 13 shows the lever c detached.

The frame-work A, of suitable shape to sustain the working parts, has suitable bearings for the main shaft A, provided with several cams and pulleys, the driving-pulley A as herein shown, being of the class known as frictional. A stand, A receives in it a stud, A on which mounted loosely the staple-hopper A, into which is thrown in mass the staple-form iastenings s, as shown at Fig. 1, the hopper having within it several radial shelves or lifters, 40, which raise the fasteners and discharge them so that the fasteners drop upon an inclined guide-wire, 4-1, connected to the upper end of the staple raceway or bar A some of the fasteners falling correctly upon the said wire or straddling it and slid ing upon the said raceway or bar, it in practice having a suitable cover, as

The staple-hopper has attached to it a toothed wheel, A which is engaged and rotated by a pinion, A on a short shaft, A provided with a belt-pulley, A over which. is passed a belt, A driven from the pulley A on the main shaft, the said belt between the said pulleys running again st two bearing pulleys, A, on an inclined stud, A.

The staple-raeeway or guide-bar A has its upper end extended into the staple-hopper, so that the latter in its rotation drops the staples upon the extension 41 to ride down the said raceway, those staples properly lodged thereon sliding down the raceway, the lower end of which terminates (see Figs. 2 and S) in an opening in a stand, B, erected on the bed of the frame, the endmost staple coming against a pivoted finger, 42, acted upon by a spring, 43, (see Figs. i and 10,) which normally keeps the end of the finger against the end of the staple-raceway A, as shown in the detail, Fig. i, the lower end of the said finger being inturned, so as to receive upon it (see Fig. a) the endmost staple of the series of staples straddling the raceway A and supporting the said staple in position to be struck by the auxiliary driver a, which acts to thread the staple into the eye of the button-shank when the latter is brought into position with its eye flatwise and open vertically (see Fig. 1) in the driver-passage in which the driver a works, the said passage being intersected at right angles, or nearly so, by a slot, 2, into line with which are brought at intervals the shanks of the buttons, the shanks being held in slots of a carrier, 0, shown as a wheel having a series of radial slots, the said carrier being at the front end of a shaft, 0, (see Fig.'7,) having its bearings in the stand I the said shaft at the rear side of the stand having attached to it a ratchet-wheel, 0 which is engaged and retated step by step by a pawl, (see Fig. 5,) acted upon by a spring, 0 the pawl being pivoted on a pawl-carrier, 0 (see also Fig. 13,) having applied to it a link, 0, pivoted to a lever, 0 having its fulcrum on a horizontal screw-stud, in a bracket secured to the bed-plate, the rear end of the said lever having a roll, which is acted upon by a cam, c on the main shaft, a spring, 0 normally acting to keep the said roll against the said cam.

The end of the pawl-carrier c and of the lever 0", which are joined by the link c", will in practice he of ball shape, and the link will be shaped to receive the said ball-shaped ends and form a ball-joint connection.

The stand B has erected upon it a buttonraceway, B, having a slotted cover-plate, B held by bars B the upper end of the raceway terminating in the button-hopper B, it having in it a rotating shaft, B, on which (see Fig. 6) is fastened a wheel, l3, having a series of holes, 30, in which. enter the buttons, the latter, when they arrive opposite an opening, 4-, in the hopper, falling over to the left in to the button-raceway, pins 13", attached to the wheel 13, agitating the buttons.

The endmost buttons of the column of buttons in the buttonraceway drop one after another into one after an other of the radial slots of the button-carrier. c, and, as herein shown, by two steps or movements of the carrier are brought with the widest part of their shanks in horizontal position opposite the slot 2 in the side of the driver passage or guideway (Z at the end of the staple raceway or bar, at which time the transferrer 6 (herein shown as a sliding finger at the end of a bar, (1, free to slide in bearings d of a stand, (1") is moved forward by the cam. (l and made to act upon the head of the button and push it horizontally out from the carrier 0, the shank of the button entering the slot 2, the transferrer leaving the button-shank standing across the driver-passage in the guide (Z, with the eye of the button open, as in Fig. 1, and in vertical position to be entered by one leg of the sta ple next to be pushed down by the auxiliary driver a.

The transferrer-bar d has a stud, 48, (see Fig. 1,) which is embraced by the forked end of a lever, 49, pivoted (see Fig. 2) on a stud or screw at the top of the lug 50 on the bedplate, the rear end of the said lever having a roller-stud, 51, which is acted upon by the cam d on the shaft A.

The transferrer is pulled back by a spring, 57, (see Fig. 1,) connected to the lever 49 and to a stud, 58. The heads of the buttons between the end of the button-raceway and the slot 2 are acted upon by a retaining-plate, 5, shown as of curved shape, and preferably a sprii'lg-plate attached to the stand B by screws, as d.

Fig. 1. on a larger scale shows the face of IIO the guide in which the staples are placed by the auxiliary driver a, and in said figure it will be seen that the end of the stapleraceway A terminates just above the slot 2, (see also Fig. 8,) so that the staple acted upon by the driver (0 may be pushed down below the yielding finger L2,which supports it at the end of the raceway A to enter one leg of the staple into the eye of the button.

The corner H (see Fig. 1) at the junction of the slot 2 with the vertical slot 45, in which descends the shank of the button .5" after the staple has been threaded into it, is cut away or rounded so as to permit the button-shank to start and turn one-quarter around, so as to get from the horizontal slot 2 into the vertical sloth"); but this could not be done if both sides of the crown of the staple were acted upon alike by the end of the driver a, for it will be seen thatif the parted of the driver a extended down as low as the part 47, when the driver acted to push the staple into the eye of the button, then the part 46 would meet the shank of the button and would prevent the rear half of the eye or shank from rising and turning, as is necessary to enable the buttonshank to turn from the position Fig. 1 and stand with the broadest part of its eye in the vertical slot 45, as in Fig. 1".

To enable the button-shank to turn over from its full line position, Fig. l, to assume the position Fig. l to stand in vertical positionin the slot of the driver-passage (I, that part 4.6 of the driver a nearest the passage is shorter than the other part, 47, so that the button-eye, as it is first entered by the staple-leg, is so acted upon by the said leg as to cause the eye to follow along the rounded corner it with the staple and tip up over on the staple-crown, and in so doing not be interfered with by the driver (1 Shortening the elli'ective length of one side or part of the driver for the purpose stated makeswhat I call a foreshortened driver, and, believing myself to be the first to conceive the necessity of so shaping the driver as to permit the button-shank to tip freely from the leg of the staple over upon the crown of the staple in line with the center of the driver, I do not desire to limit my invention to the exact form of driver shown, but deem as within the scope of my invention any equivalent construction of driver which is made to permit a free quarter-rotation of the shank of the button under the driver.

The sectional view, Fig. 9, shows the shape of the groove -15 of the guideway d, in which the driver a and staple travel. The guideway d is shown as quite short; but just below it is placed a holding-guide, g, having the same cross-section as the guideway d, the holdingguide g having a shouldered back, (see Fig. 12,) to enter a correspondingly-shapcd groove in the end of a slide-bar, g, fitted to slide transversely in the stand B, the bar having a roller or other stud, g which is acted upon by the cam g on the shaft A, the roller being kept against the cam by a spring, g while the guide g is normally kept up by a spring, The holder-guide has a pin or stud, as 56, to arrest the staple and button until removed therefrom by the driver 72, which enters the driver-passage 71 in the holder-guide g, and drives the fastener therefrom into the material of a boot, shoe, or other article laid upon the anvil 7: supported on the beak 71 the said anvil 71 having usual pockets to clinch the legs of the staple inwardly and turn the points of the staple-legs up into or against the stock, as in United States Patents Nos. 324453 and 312,987.

The driver 71 is fixed by screws 10 (see Fig. 1) to a vertically-reciprocating frame, In, having behind the driver a guideway or groove for the reception of a presser bar or slide, 12, having a stem, 13, extended upwardly between a friction clamp or driver, it, supported at the top of the frame 771, the upper end of the stem 13, at each ascent of the said frame, meeting a stop, 15, attached to the stand ll, and arresting the upward movement of the presser 12 before the driver-frame m and driver arrive at their upstroke, thus leaving the presser, when the driver is fully elevated, with its end nearly at the end of the presser, as in Fig. l.

The driver-frame has a grooved shank, 122 which is made to slide upon a guidestand, m secured to the bed-plate, the shank and stand being each properly dovetailed together, so as to slide one on the other. The shank m has, as shown, a stud, m, which is engaged by a driver-actuating lever, an, pivoted on a stud, m of a lug, m the lever having at its end (see Fig. 3) a roll which is acted upon by a cam, m on the shaft- A, a spring, m keeping the roll against the said cam.

As the driver-frame and driver are depressed to drive a fasten er into the material, the driver enters the driver-passage 7L and bears against the crown of the staple, and the presser 1:2 meets the holder-guide g and causes it to descend upon the material between the said holder-guide and the anvil, and as the material is so clamped the holder-guide and presser come to rest; but the driver-frame m. and driver continue to descend until the driver 72 drives the staple which is threaded into the eye of the button, into the material, and from the driver-passage 71', the friction clamp or device at such time sliding down upon the shank 13.

The driver (L is attached by screws n to a slide or driver head, a, made vertically movable in a groove at the side of the stand B, the said slide or head 11. having at one side next the guide-stand m a stud or projection, a on which is alink, 71 which is pivoted at n to the end of a lever, n, pivoted at 21 (see Fig. 2%) the rear end of the said lever being acted upon by a cam, a on the shaft- A to cause the descent of the driver a, the opposite movement of the lever n being produced, as herein shown, by a spring, 01

A detent, r, acted upon by a spring, 4", (see Fig. 5,) acts to prevent any retrograde move ment of the carrier 0.

I claim 1. In a button-setting machine, the block having the driver-passage and the staple raceway or bar in communication therewith, combined with the staple-detaining finger located opposite or at the end of the said raceway or bar to support a single staple, and with a driver, substantially as described.

2. The staple raceway or bar, the block having the driver-passage and slotted at 2, and a button chute or raceway, combined with a transferrer to transfer the buttons singly into the slot 2 and with a driver to drive the sta ple into the eye of the button-shank, substantially as described.

The staple raceway or bar, the block having the driver-passage and slotted at 2, and the staple-detaining finger located at the end of the staple raceway or bar, and a button chute or raceway, combined with a transferrer to transfer the buttons singly into the slot 2 and with a driver to drive the staple into the eye of the button-shank, substantially as described.

4. The block. having the dri\ *erpassage 45 and slotted at 2 for the entrance into the driver-passage of the shank of the button, with its eye opened for the reception of one leg of a staple, combined withaforeshortened driver to permit the button-shank to turn onequarter around while traveling from the slot 2 into the driver-passage, one part of the shank of the button curvingupwardly about the crown of. the staple, substantially as described.

5. The button-raceway, the carrier having pockets, and the transferrer, combined with the slotted guideway having the driver-passage, and with a driver, a button raceway or bar, and stapledetaining finger, substantially as described.

6. The slotted guideway having the driven passage, the communicating staple raceway or bar, and the transferrer to place a button with its shank open vertically in the driver-passage, combined With the anvil, the holder-guide g, and driver 72, to drive the staple from the holder-guide, substantially as described.

7. A button-hopper, a button chute or raceway, a carrier to take buttons therefrom, a guideway grooved for the passage of a staple and driver and slotted at 2, the staple-hopper, staple raceway or bar, and staple-detainingfinger at the end of the said staple raceway or bar, combined with a transferrer and with a driver to pass the staple into the eye of the button-shank, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN H. VIN-TON.

Vitnesses:

GEO. W. GREGORY, J. C. SEARS, 

